Majors win pennant, take on Brantford in round 1

Photo by Josh Mailloux

In a battle that would give the winning team home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and the IBL pennant, the Guelph Royals and London Majors faced off on a memorable Thursday night. The Majors would be victorious 4-3 to capture their second straight Intercounty Baseball League Regular Season Pennant. 

In a rematch from Friday night, Jose Arias would counter Claudio Custodio to start this game. Arias after pitching 8 innings on Friday would only manage 3 innings while striking out 3 allowing only 2 runs in the game. Custodio would pitch 8 innings striking out 10 Majors and giving up 3 runs in his outing. The Majors bullpen did their job though as Fernando Fernadez would pitch 4 innings, giving up 1 earned run while also striking out 3. Braeden Ferrington who has been one of the Majors’ best relievers all year, pitched 2 innings, striking out 3 while also not allowing a hit which would be crucial for the Majors in this game. 

Offensively the Majors’ bats would held off the board until the 5th inning when Jakob Newton would drop a single into left field scoring Byron Reichstein. Reichstein who is rounding into his IBL Playoff MVP calibre once again would single in Taylor wright in the 6th inning to tie the game at that point. With Custodio helping his own cause in the 7th inning on a sac fly to give the Royals the lead, a play that you won’t see in the box score though led to the Majors getting their 3rd run. With Jakob Newton on 1st and Keith Kandel on third, Taylor Wright would strike out, during so Newton would have a fake steal at first causing the Royals catcher to throw the ball to second where there was no defender standing. As the ball sailed into center field, Keith Kandel would trot in from third tying the game. In the 9th inning with the bases loaded, 1 out in the inning and the Royals with 5 infielders on the grass, Robert Mullen would chop a ball of the home plate area dirt and kick away from pitcher Andrew Case who was unable to make the glove flip home, Jakob Newton would slide into home plate giving the Majors the victory. 

With the win, the Majors will now take on the Brantford Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 will be Friday night from Labatt Park with game 2 on Saturday in Brantford followed by a Sunday night matchup for game 3 back at the Forks of the Thames. Tickets for Majors home games can be purchased online at www.londonmajors.com. A reminder that regular season passes are not valid for any Majors Playoff game this season. 

The London Majors are a member of Canada’s top baseball league, the Intercounty Baseball League. In 2021 the London Majors won the IBL Jack & Lynn Dominico Trophy. The 100-year-old summer league is one of the oldest baseball leagues in the world, with the league established in 1919, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. For more information, visit www.londonmajors.com or follow the Majors on Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, Youtube and Twitter at @Londonmajors.